A glance back at the winding and sometimes rough roads of life.

Month: January 2018

“Pain nourishes your courage. You can’t be brave if you’ve only had wonderful things happen to you.” I love that quote. Mary Tyler Moore said it.

Her sentiments mimicked what I felt in the middle of a sprint triathlon race – of all things.

It’s the hardest part of the race. The first mile of the run – right after the bike ride. If I’m going to stop and quit at any part of the race, that first mile will be it. If I’m going to have any mind failure…it’s there. But I’ve also had the most amazing thoughts at this point in the race. And it’s there that this thought came to me:

“I never got to watch my parents get old,” my friend told me as we sat at his kitchen table. His parents both died when they were in their early 60’s. Cancer was the executioner. And although he’s outlived them now by several years, he feels like he missed out on watching them age.

I remember at the mortuary, looking at his body there on the table. My ex-husband. He was at the mortuary by choice and his own gun. He and I sorta grew up together since we had been high school sweethearts. We started dating when I was 16 and he was 17. But after 20 years of marriage, it crumbled and he quickly remarried. Two years later, there I stood over this face I knew so well. Continue reading →